I got a ranch in downtown Dallas/I buy diamonds by the ton/Chase cuties in my Cadillac/Drill oil wells just for fun/But when it comes to boots, I need a deal/That will fit me right, toe to heel/So I get my boots at Western Warehouse.

He put his body between the forward and the puck. He moved the puck to safe areas where the forward couldn't get to it. He outskated the forward to get to the puck. He made a split decision exit pass to end the attack.

I'm tearing up over here.

I got a ranch in downtown Dallas/I buy diamonds by the ton/Chase cuties in my Cadillac/Drill oil wells just for fun/But when it comes to boots, I need a deal/That will fit me right, toe to heel/So I get my boots at Western Warehouse.

Troy McClure wrote:He put his body between the forward and the puck. He moved the puck to safe areas where the forward couldn't get to it. He outskated the forward to get to the puck. He made a split decision exit pass to end the attack.

I'm tearing up over here.

Let's keep in mind that the guys he's competing against right now are the equivalent of the green turtles in Level 1-1 of Super Mario World. This is development camp.

The Frugal Gourmet wrote:I look forward to the future day when he is declared a bust and for Todd to be the only person left defending him.

Im actually a little leery about him. He moved up the draft boards ridick fast... one month he was roughly a #10, then after the summer tourney, he rockets up to top three? I mean, he looks good and all, but...

The Frugal Gourmet wrote:I look forward to the future day when he is declared a bust and for Todd to be the only person left defending him.

Im actually a little leery about him. He moved up the draft boards ridick fast... one month he was roughly a #10, then after the summer tourney, he rockets up to top three? I mean, he looks good and all, but...

I'll champion Heiskanen. You can keep Nichushkin. Deal?

I got a ranch in downtown Dallas/I buy diamonds by the ton/Chase cuties in my Cadillac/Drill oil wells just for fun/But when it comes to boots, I need a deal/That will fit me right, toe to heel/So I get my boots at Western Warehouse.

The Frugal Gourmet wrote:Does he have what it takes to beat out the other 47 generic Stars defensemen and make the team?

Good question. Our top 6 are pretty good. Klingberg, Lindell, Methot, Hamhuis, Johns & Julie. We don't want to have him be a #7. So is he better than Hamhuis, Johns or Julie? Johns or Julie as a #7 isn't ideal either. So, he probably goes back to Europe for next season and he replaces Hamhuis next season. But it would be awesome if he forces himself into the NHL.

Nemeth, Oleksiak or Pateryn is probably penciled in for a #7. Maybe Nill thinks he can slip one of those three down to the AHL.

Yeah, I guess it just depends on how good a camp/pre-season he has. No one, not even Janmark's mom, expected him to come out of camp as a top-6 forward logging huge minutes in all situations. If Heiskanen can take the reigns, he pretty much makes Hamhuis expendable. Well.... more expendable.

I think there's no way. Even if he plays well enough to earn a spot, Nill isn't going to be able to move three d-men to make room for him.

I got a ranch in downtown Dallas/I buy diamonds by the ton/Chase cuties in my Cadillac/Drill oil wells just for fun/But when it comes to boots, I need a deal/That will fit me right, toe to heel/So I get my boots at Western Warehouse.

That's the beauty of the Heiskanen pick. His preferred side is the left side, so you have Klingberg and Honka on the right with Heiskanen playing the left side with one of them.

I got a ranch in downtown Dallas/I buy diamonds by the ton/Chase cuties in my Cadillac/Drill oil wells just for fun/But when it comes to boots, I need a deal/That will fit me right, toe to heel/So I get my boots at Western Warehouse.

Troy McClure wrote:That's the beauty of the Heiskanen pick. His preferred side is the left side, so you have Klingberg and Honka on the right with Heiskanen playing the left side with one of them.

What I mean is they are all basically the same player. Undersized, offensive, puck-moving Euros. Which are great to have, don't get me wrong, but it might be a little concerning to load up too much on that. Heiskanen and Klingberg are both 6-foot, 175. Honka is even smaller. You need to have a little bit of size. You're going to get wrecked by the Winnpegs and Anaheims of the league that are have the big boys. What you need is a good version of Johns.

Troy McClure wrote:That's the beauty of the Heiskanen pick. His preferred side is the left side, so you have Klingberg and Honka on the right with Heiskanen playing the left side with one of them.

What I mean is they are all basically the same player. Undersized, offensive, puck-moving Euros. Which are great to have, don't get me wrong, but it might be a little concerning to load up too much on that. Heiskanen and Klingberg are both 6-foot, 175. Honka is even smaller. You need to have a little bit of size. You're going to get wrecked by the Winnpegs and Anaheims of the league that are have the big boys. What you need is a good version of Johns.

If Heiskanen is the defensive player we are told he is, then I think he's a fine fit with either guy.

I got a ranch in downtown Dallas/I buy diamonds by the ton/Chase cuties in my Cadillac/Drill oil wells just for fun/But when it comes to boots, I need a deal/That will fit me right, toe to heel/So I get my boots at Western Warehouse.

ToddM wrote:Im actually a little leery about him. He moved up the draft boards ridick fast... one month he was roughly a #10, then after the summer tourney, he rockets up to top three? I mean, he looks good and all, but...

Otherwise he was already that high (top 5) prior to the World U-18s in April (which Nill attended). That and the World Juniors were the only times he played against other players in his age group.

His play in the Liiga at the age of 17, is what surged his ranking into the top 5.At the age of 17 he was playing 19 minutes per game against men, and 20:30 minutes per game in the playoffs. Big part of the team's PK, and some PP time. He also had the most points by a 1st year player in the Finland's top league in like 26 years. HIFK's Corsi was 52.9% with Heiskanen on the ice, 49.3% without him on the ice. 2nd on team in Corsi, 1st for defenseman in Corsi

Grant McCagg wrote:Lots of scouts have Heiskanen top five..and don't have Salo in their top 100..that's how much of a discrepancy there is between the two. Every scout I deal with has Heiskanen rated as the top defenceman in the draft...I have him third overall at this time on Recrutes top 100. Grossly underrated by the casual scout.

Some of the big risers late were Hampus Lindholm and Oliver Ekman-Larsson.

Troy McClure wrote:I think there's no way. Even if he plays well enough to earn a spot, Nill isn't going to be able to move three d-men to make room for him.

He won't have to move 3 dmen. Send Julie down (not that I advocate, but he is still waiver exempt), and send down the other spares, if they get claimed, yay for them, if not Texas is better and we have them in case of injury. And just have Hamhuis sit if Heiskanen blows us away at camp.

And point taken that several D are of the same mold, smaller and faster, but that is the way things are trending. Too early to give up on any of these young stud muffins. Let them get beat to death before we worry about it.

Troy McClure wrote:That's the beauty of the Heiskanen pick. His preferred side is the left side, so you have Klingberg and Honka on the right with Heiskanen playing the left side with one of them.

What I mean is they are all basically the same player. Undersized, offensive, puck-moving Euros. Which are great to have, don't get me wrong, but it might be a little concerning to load up too much on that. Heiskanen and Klingberg are both 6-foot, 175. Honka is even smaller. You need to have a little bit of size. You're going to get wrecked by the Winnpegs and Anaheims of the league that are have the big boys. What you need is a good version of Johns.

Similar in size/weight eventually. Heiskanen isn't even 18 yet, he might still grow another inch or two. Honka and Klingberg are different styles, Honka also drives puck possession far more then Klingberg. Heiskanen is very advanced defensively something that Klingberg won't have.Ideally, Klingberg is going to be on the team's second defensive pairing. Heiskanen and Honka on the top pairing.Besides there's the other half of the defense core they can fill in with bigger players.

Troy McClure wrote:I think there's no way. Even if he plays well enough to earn a spot, Nill isn't going to be able to move three d-men to make room for him.

He won't have to move 3 dmen. Send Julie down (not that I advocate, but he is still waiver exempt), and send down the other spares, if they get claimed, yay for them, if not Texas is better and we have them in case of injury. And just have Hamhuis sit if Heiskanen blows us away at camp.

And point taken that several D are of the same mold, smaller and faster, but that is the way things are trending. Too early to give up on any of these young stud muffins. Let them get beat to death before we worry about it.

Imagine if both Honka and Heiskanen are awesome in camp and deserve a spot.

Methot - KlingbergLindell-HonkaHeiskanen-Johns

HamhuisNemeth OleksiakPateryn

At least two players would have to go. I think I saw the Texas Stars are already about full of players. There may not be room to send multiple guys down.

No matter what, with the number of bodies, I doubt Heiskanen has a real shot to make the team. On top of that, it will be a damn shame if Honka gets sent down all because Nill is unwilling or unable to get rid of some deadwood. If Honka's play has earned him a spot, I hope he gets it.

I got a ranch in downtown Dallas/I buy diamonds by the ton/Chase cuties in my Cadillac/Drill oil wells just for fun/But when it comes to boots, I need a deal/That will fit me right, toe to heel/So I get my boots at Western Warehouse.

Troy McClure wrote:That's the beauty of the Heiskanen pick. His preferred side is the left side, so you have Klingberg and Honka on the right with Heiskanen playing the left side with one of them.

What I mean is they are all basically the same player. Undersized, offensive, puck-moving Euros. Which are great to have, don't get me wrong, but it might be a little concerning to load up too much on that. Heiskanen and Klingberg are both 6-foot, 175. Honka is even smaller. You need to have a little bit of size. You're going to get wrecked by the Winnpegs and Anaheims of the league that are have the big boys. What you need is a good version of Johns.

Johns is a good version of Johns. He took the Ruff Step Back last season, but he's exactly the kind of guy who shines under Hitchcock.

I'm not worried about a surplus of small, puck-moving d-men. In general, they tend to last longer and play at a higher level than the bruisers.

Troy McClure wrote:At least two players would have to go. I think I saw the Texas Stars are already about full of players. There may not be room to send multiple guys down.

No matter what, with the number of bodies, I doubt Heiskanen has a real shot to make the team. On top of that, it will be a damn shame if Honka gets sent down all because Nill is unwilling or unable to get rid of some deadwood. If Honka's play has earned him a spot, I hope he gets it.

I would imagine one of the 3 gets claimed on the way down.

But I do agree that Heiskanen is not likely to make the team and will be sent back to Europe. Nill has said as much. And I also agree that Julie should play in the NHL. But he could be sent down to start so Nill has more time to manage the too many Dmen.